This dataset, which contains the summary of over 50,000 searches carried out by Victoria Police in the years 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023, was prepared as part of The Racial Profiling Data Monitoring Project, a project of the Centre Against Racial Profiling.
This dataset took significant financial resources to obtain and transform into a user-friendly format. To find out more about how this dataset was obtained go to Annual Data. You can donate to the project here.
Note that 2020 and 2021 data is not included in this data due to the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID 19 pandemic, which are not a sound basis for inference regarding behaviour during non-pandemic periods.
There are five types of searches without a warrant that are in scope for this dataset, summarised below. These represent searches that can be undertaken where an officer has ‘reasonable grounds’ to suspect that a person was in possession of a prohibited item specified as part of that search power.
Almost 90 percent of searches were for drugs. Note that some individuals were searched under multiple powers (eg where the officer stated that they had reasonable grounds to suspect the person had both weapons and drugs).
Victoria Police records the ethnic appearance of the people that they search without warrant based on existing categories. These categories are not based on ancestry information, but on perceived ethnicity as considered by the officer.
Missing data
A total of 22,117 search records, or 42% of all records, did not have any ethnic appearance data entered, despite this field being mandatory for ‘stop and searches’ since 2019. Records where the officer was unable to determine the ethnic appearance were marked as ‘Other’.
Middle Eastern appearance data limitations
There is a limitation on our ability to analyse police-targeting of people of Middle Eastern appearance, as in 2020 Victoria Police aggregated Mediterranean and Middle Eastern into a single category. This presents a challenge to our analysis, as we would ordinarily expect persons of Mediterranean descent (eg people of Italian, Greek, Croatian ancestry) to be categorised as ‘non-racialised’ or ‘White’. Meanwhile we would ordinarily expect persons of the Middle Eastern appearance to be considered ‘racialised’.
The Centre Against Racial Profiling urges Victoria Police to separate ‘Middle Eastern’ from ‘Mediterranean’ in order for racial appearance data to be more useful. This is particularly relevant for understanding the effect of the impact of overseas conflicts and resulting protests at home on potential police bias.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander appearance data caution
Please be reminded that perceived ethnicity data does not enable analysis of search data for police perception white appearing Aboriginal people. This and other ethnic appearances in the dataset are subjective.
The variables of interest in the dataset are summarised in Table 1 below.
Table 1 Characteristics of searches
| Variable | Stats / Values | Freqs (% of Valid) | Graph | Missing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year [factor] |
|
|
0 (0.0%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ethnic.appearance [factor] |
|
|
22117 (42.0%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gender [factor] |
|
|
15566 (29.6%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Area.type [factor] |
|
|
13830 (26.3%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unit.type [factor] |
|
|
0 (0.0%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Contact.Type [factor] |
|
|
4162 (7.9%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank.of.Member [factor] |
|
|
0 (0.0%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Found [factor] |
|
|
0 (0.0%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Search.type - Drugs [factor] |
|
|
5587 (10.6%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Search.type - Weapons [factor] |
|
|
48043 (91.2%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Search.type - Firearms [factor] |
|
|
51839 (98.5%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Search.type - Graffiti [factor] |
|
|
51672 (98.1%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Search.type - Volatile.sub.U18 [factor] |
|
|
52634 (100.0%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Search.type - Volatile.sub.adult [factor] |
|
|
52633 (100.0%) |
Generated by summarytools 1.0.1 (R version 4.4.1)
2024-10-08
The breakdown of searches by search type appears in Table 2 below. This has been summarised separately from the main data as some searches involved multiple search types - for example where an officer believed that they had reasonable grounds for suspecting a person was in possession with both drugs and weapons.
Table 2 Legislative basis for searches
| Variable | Stats / Values | Freqs (% of Valid) | Graph | Missing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search.type [factor] |
|
|
0 (0.0%) |
Generated by summarytools 1.0.1 (R version 4.4.1)
2024-10-08
The ‘hit rate’ is the percentage of searches which resulted in the officer finding contraband as part of the search. The average hit rate across all searches was 17.2%.
A lower hit rate means that a lower percentage of searches of people in the group are resulting in the discovery of contraband. That is, the ‘reasonable grounds’ for suspicion is being met more easily on the part of police officers in relation to groups with lower hit rates. This may be due to racial bias, either conscious or unconscious. For the over-policed group, this is experienced as racial targeting.
Compared with hit rates for people who appeared White (18%), hit rates were much lower for people who appeared African (12.9%), Middle Eastern/Mediterranean (13.8%), Asian (13.7%), South Asian (13.9%) and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (15.6%). The exception to this is hit rates for people of Pacific Islander appearance (18.8%).
Table 3 Hit rates by variables of interest
label | variable | Found | Total | test | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Yes | No | ||||
Ethnic.appearance | Aboriginal | 151 (15.6%) | 815 (84.4%) | 966 (3.2%) | p value: <0.0001 |
African | 217 (12.9%) | 1460 (87.1%) | 1677 (5.5%) | ||
Asian | 301 (13.7%) | 1889 (86.3%) | 2190 (7.2%) | ||
Middle Eastern/Med | 551 (13.8%) | 3448 (86.2%) | 3999 (13.1%) | ||
Other | 124 (15.8%) | 661 (84.2%) | 785 (2.6%) | ||
Pacific Islander | 146 (18.8%) | 630 (81.2%) | 776 (2.5%) | ||
South American | 18 (15.7%) | 97 (84.3%) | 115 (0.4%) | ||
South Asian | 98 (13.9%) | 606 (86.1%) | 704 (2.3%) | ||
White | 3474 (18.0%) | 15851 (82.0%) | 19325 (63.3%) | ||
NA | 3972 | 18145 | 22117 | ||
Total | 9052 (17.2%) | 43602 (82.8%) | 52654 (100.0%) | ||
Figure 1 below shows how the hit rate for different racial appearances changed over the four year period, with a reference line showing the average hit rate for all searches over four years in red. The following observations are made:
Figure 1 Changes in hit rates by racial appearance over time and compared to the average
Figure 1 below shows how the hit rate for different racial appearances changed over the four year period, with a reference line showing the average hit rate for all searches over four years in red. The following observations are made:
Other characteristics which may have influenced hit rates are summarised in Table 4 below. Different search types had widely different hit rates, with drug-related searches having the lowest hit-rate (15.2%) and graffiti-related searches at designated places, such as train stations, having the highest hit-rate (50.1%), followed by weapons-related searches (32.8%).
Table 4 Hit rates by legislative power
label | variable | Found | Total | test | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Yes | No | ||||
Search.type | Drugs | 7131 (15.2%) | 39936 (84.8%) | 47067 (87.9%) | p value: <0.0001 |
Firearms | 179 (22.0%) | 636 (78.0%) | 815 (1.5%) | ||
Graffiti | 492 (50.1%) | 490 (49.9%) | 982 (1.8%) | ||
Volatile substance | 13 (31.7%) | 28 (68.3%) | 41 (0.1%) | ||
Weapons | 1512 (32.8%) | 3099 (67.2%) | 4611 (8.6%) | ||
Total | 9327 (17.4%) | 44189 (82.6%) | 53516 (100.0%) | ||
Table 4 Hit rates by other search characteristics
label | variable | Found | Total | test | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Yes | No | ||||
Year | 2018 | 2275 (17.7%) | 10566 (82.3%) | 12841 (24.4%) | p value: 0.0033 |
2019 | 2366 (17.8%) | 10915 (82.2%) | 13281 (25.2%) | ||
2022 | 2453 (16.4%) | 12534 (83.6%) | 14987 (28.5%) | ||
2023 | 1958 (17.0%) | 9587 (83.0%) | 11545 (21.9%) | ||
Total | 9052 (17.2%) | 43602 (82.8%) | 52654 (100.0%) | ||
Unit.type | CIU | 284 (14.4%) | 1695 (85.6%) | 1979 (3.8%) | p value: <0.0001 |
DRU | 201 (11.6%) | 1536 (88.4%) | 1737 (3.3%) | ||
Highway Patrol | 192 (33.9%) | 374 (66.1%) | 566 (1.1%) | ||
Other | 161 (14.7%) | 932 (85.3%) | 1093 (2.1%) | ||
PSO | 319 (33.3%) | 639 (66.7%) | 958 (1.8%) | ||
Public Order Response | 655 (14.0%) | 4018 (86.0%) | 4673 (8.9%) | ||
Transit | 934 (24.9%) | 2821 (75.1%) | 3755 (7.1%) | ||
Uniform | 6306 (16.6%) | 31587 (83.4%) | 37893 (72.0%) | ||
Total | 9052 (17.2%) | 43602 (82.8%) | 52654 (100.0%) | ||
Gender | F | 966 (13.9%) | 5999 (86.1%) | 6965 (18.8%) | p value: <0.0001 |
M | 5233 (17.4%) | 24873 (82.6%) | 30106 (81.2%) | ||
U | 0 (0%) | 17 (100.0%) | 17 (0.05%) | ||
NA | 2853 | 12713 | 15566 | ||
Total | 9052 (17.2%) | 43602 (82.8%) | 52654 (100.0%) | ||
Area.type | Metro | 4572 (16.1%) | 23851 (83.9%) | 28423 (73.2%) | p value: <0.0001 |
Regional | 1862 (17.9%) | 8539 (82.1%) | 10401 (26.8%) | ||
NA | 2618 | 11212 | 13830 | ||
Total | 9052 (17.2%) | 43602 (82.8%) | 52654 (100.0%) | ||
Racialised hit rates across different unit types were compared. Where there were less than five searches for a given group in a Local Government Areas hit rates are not shown, as statistical results may be misleading.
Table 6 Ethnic appearance hit rates by Unit type
Searches that were undertaken by a uniform officer based at a local Police station were able to be mapped to their Local Government Area.
The hit rates for persons of different ethnic appearances for Local Government Areas appears below.
| Ethnic.appearance | Finds | Searches | Hit rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| NA | 414 | 2860 | 14.5 |
| White | 894 | 6350 | 14.1 |
| Other | 71 | 566 | 12.5 |
| Middle Eastern/Med | 221 | 1779 | 12.4 |
| Aboriginal | 38 | 309 | 12.3 |
| Asian | 156 | 1277 | 12.2 |
| African | 86 | 755 | 11.4 |
Table 7 Ethnic appearance hit rates by LGA
Searches that were undertaken by a uniform officer based at a local Police station were able to be mapped to their Local Government Area.
The hit rates for persons of different ethnic appearances for Local Government Areas appears below.
Table 7 Ethnic appearance hit rates by LGA
Ethnic appearance categories for different years were transformed to enable comparison across the four years. A table of transformations undertaken, along with the number of searches in each category, appears below,
| Ethnic.Appearance.original | Ethnic.appearance | n |
|---|---|---|
| ABORIGINAL/T.S. ISLANDER | Aboriginal | 555 |
| AFRICAN | African | 1093 |
| ASIAN | Asian | 1139 |
| CAUCASIAN | White | 9949 |
| INDIAN SUB-CONTINENTAL | Asian | 425 |
| MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE-EASTERN | Middle Eastern/Med | 1935 |
| PACIFIC ISLANDER/MAORI | Other | 416 |
| SOUTH AMERICAN | Other | 68 |
| UNDETERMINED | Other | 295 |
| NA | NA | 10657 |
| Ethnic.Appearance.original | Ethnic.appearance | n |
|---|---|---|
| ABORIGINAL/T.S. ISLANDER | Aboriginal | 411 |
| AFRICA/MIDEAST (DONT USE) | Other | 267 |
| AFRICAN | African | 555 |
| ARAB | Middle Eastern/Med | 265 |
| ASIAN | Asian | 1051 |
| BLACK | African | 29 |
| CAUCASIAN | White | 9294 |
| INDIAN SUB-CONTINENTAL | Asian | 67 |
| INDIAN SUBCONTINENT | Asian | 212 |
| LATIN AMERICAN | Other | 35 |
| MAORI | Other | 181 |
| MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE-EASTERN | Middle Eastern/Med | 162 |
| MIDDLE EASTERN | Middle Eastern/Med | 307 |
| NORTH/EUROPE | White | 82 |
| PACIFIC IS | Other | 109 |
| PACIFIC ISLANDER/MAORI | Other | 70 |
| SOUTH AMERICAN | Other | 12 |
| SOUTH/EUROPE | Middle Eastern/Med | 1330 |
| UNCLASSIFIED/OTHER RACE | Other | 1 |
| UNDETERMINED | Other | 21 |
| UNKNOWN | Other | 201 |
| NA | NA | 11460 |